This invention relates generally to dental cleaning apparatus, and more particularly, is directed to a device for cleaning dental implant posts.
Surgery to secure dental implants to the jaw bone of a patient has recently become technically and economically available. The use of such dental implants is generally more desirable than so-called "false teeth" which are temporarily adhered to the gum surface. This is because the dental implants are permanently secured in the mouth of the patient.
Generally, surgery for such dental implants starts by making an incision in the gum of the patient to expose the bone over the site of the implant. A special drill then drills into the bone and the implant is screwed into place. The implant is covered for three to six months to permit undisturbed healing. Thereafter, the top of the implant is exposed and a post is attached. A bridge is then secured on the post and functions in the same manner as a natural tooth.
It will be appreciated that a portion of the post is generally accessible under the bridge. Thus, as with natural teeth, it is necessary to clean the bridge and post, particularly near and at the gum line.
Various types of tooth cleaning brushes have been proposed. Most of such brushes provide a single wire element or the like having bristles thereon which are adapted to clean the extremities of the teeth and enter the interproximal areas between teeth. Brushes of this type are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,559,226; 3,720,975; 3,939,520; 4,053,959; 4,222,143; and 4,319,377; 4,387,479. However, with these brushes, only one side of a tooth can be cleaned at any given time. In other words, the proximal, distal, buccal and lingual sides of the tooth must be cleaned separately. This requires a relatively large amount of time, and accordingly, the user may not take the time to carefully clean all of the tooth surfaces. Further, with such brushes, it would be difficult to use the same to clean all exposed surfaces of an implant post, particularly toward the lingual side. In addition, there is a tendency for a single pronged straight brush to bend away from the mesial and distal midpoint interproximal surfaces, thereby making cleaning even more difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,264 discloses a toothbrush having two parallel and rotatable, generally conically shaped tooth and gum engaging implements. However, it is clear that this toothbrush could not be used to clean the proximal and distal sides of a tooth, let alone an implant post.
In the art of general brushing and scrubbing implements, devices are known having parallel wire elements with bristles thereon. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,195,190 and 1,337,819; British Patent No. 24,259; French Patent Nos. 117,317 and 704,414; and Swedish Patent No. 8,281. In the first place, these devices are not intended for the cleaning of teeth and could not be used as such. Further, the use of parallel wire elements would not enable a person to clean the lingual side of an implant post, along with the remaining sides, in a single cleaning motion.
Although French Patent No. 117,317 does disclose the use of one wire element being bent at its free end, it is noted that this Patent only envisions the use of one wire element at a time, the other wire element being removed from the device. In any event, a complete cleaning of an implant post could not be achieved in a single motion with this device.
Finally, French patent No. 24,259, although disclosing various bent wires, provides that the free ends of the wires are always parallel or slightly bent outwardly away from each other. Accordingly, complete cleaning of all implant post (or tooth) surfaces with a single motion could not be achieved with this brush.